Final warning for police officer who rammed car in unauthorised chase

PCs Adam Williams and Daniel Toft were in two unmarked police cars when they tried to stop a white Skoda driven by suspected drug dealers in Hastings at 12.20pm on February 8, 2018.

PC Williams drove the wrong way down a one-way street and used his car to ram the fleeing vehicle.

A car chase took place involving the two cars driven by the officers as well as a third unmarked police car, along Hampden Mews, Southwater Road, Hatherley Road, London Road and Warrior Square.

PC Williams used his car to ram the white Skoda.

The chase ended when the Skoda crashed into parked cars in Warrior Square.

Police watchdog the IOPC launched an investigation.

It found that PC Williams did not tell the control centre he was carrying out a chase so did not get permission.

He was not trained in tactical pursuit so was not authorised to use tactical contact as a technique, nor was he authorised to ignore no-entry signs.

The panel found he did all three of these things during the chase and this was gross misconduct.

The investigation found that PC Toft was not trained to take part in any sort of pursuit, did not seek authorisation, and at one point mounted the pavement and ignored a no-entry sign. The panel ruled his actions constituted misconduct.

It concluded that the actions of PC Williams and PC Toft could be seen to amount to gross misconduct.

On Friday PC Williams was given a final written warning while PC Toft will receive management action.

IOPC regional director Sarah Green said: “These two officers carried out an unauthorised pursuit through a busy urban area in the middle of the day, exceeding the limits of their training in the process. It is extremely fortunate that no one was injured as a result.

“The fact that a third vehicle being driven by an officer with the required level of training and who had sought authorisation, was also present serves to show that the actions of these two officers were both reckless and unnecessary.”